Bearing witness to suffering in AIDS: the testing of a substantive theory.

AIDS volunteerism, as a response by those affected by loss associated with HIV/AIDS, has been described as an act of bearing witness. The theory "bearing witness to suffering in HIV/AIDS," proposes that AIDS volunteerism assists individuals affected by loss to increase their levels of hope, self-esteem, social support, and develop a sense of purpose in life (PIL). The purpose of this descriptive research was to determine if AIDS volunteerism, hope, self-esteem, and social support were predictive of PIL among individuals affected by loss from HIV/AIDS. Path analysis was used to analyze data. Hope, social support, and self-esteem were found to have significant positive effects on PIL and accounted for 66% of the total variance. The results from this study will be used to further develop the theory of bearing witness; this theory may be useful to develop and test interventions to relieve the suffering experienced by individuals affected by HIV/AIDS.